Lettuce   

• Planting lettuce in partial shade can extend the harvest through warmer weather.
• Keep the soil continuously moist, but not waterlogged.
• Sowing lettuce every 2-3 weeks guarantees a constant harvest throughout the season.

Sow in early to mid spring for spring crops, or in late summer to harvest in fall, and make successive plantings every few days to extend period of harvest.
Lettuce can be sown inside in trays, or directly out in the garden if the weather is right.

Planting lettuce indoors in a propagator
Prepare a propagator tray or small pot with a soil-less potting mix, ensuring that all big lumps, stones and sticks have been removed from the mix so it is as fine as possible. Sow a couple of seeds per compartment / pot to ensure that at least one seed germinates. Sprinkle a very fine cover of compost on the top, then water in well.

The seeds don’t need light to germinate, so you can place the containers in a warm dark place for a couple of days until you notice sprouting. Ensure that the soil remains moist but not waterlogged during the germination period. Move the container into an area with lots of light (if you don’t have natural light available, a grow light can be substituted at this stage). Remember if you are positioning the seedlings in sunlight, you should try to rotate them often to ensure they grow straight as they will otherwise try to bend towards the light.

When the seedlings are about 5cm / 2 inches tall, take a look at the seedlings in each compartment and choose the strongest one to keep. The others should be snipped back carefully, or if you are game you can try to repot these other seedlings into new separate containers (this can however be risky as you may lose all seedlings if you aren’t careful). Grow on until they are ready to go outside.

Sowing lettuce directly outside
Choose before you sow if you wish to grow the lettuce as whole heads or as cut-and-come-again leaves. If you wish to grow as whole heads, you could aim to keep a good distance between each plant and ensure that seedlings are thinned between each plant as they grow to ensure there is enough space for the lettuce to mature. They tend to grow best in rows. Before you sow, ensure that the soil is well worked and is completely free from stones and big lumps of soil, and begin thinning out when the seedlings are about 5 cm tall.

For salad leaves, you can sprinkle an area liberally with lettuce seed, then thin as you like.

By our calculations*, you should look at sowing Lettuce about 53 days before your last frost date .

Once your seedlings are about 5cm tall and all danger of frost has past, you can start to acclimatise your seedlings to the outside weather. To do this, put your seedlings outside for a period of time each day, increasing the time outdoors over about a week until you leave them outside for the entire day. Once your seedlings are “hardened off” they will be ready to plant. As per the sowing instructions, ensure your soil is well tilled, and set out in rows – ensure you leave enough space between plants for the variety you are growing. Water in well. Watch temperatures closely outside, if the temperature dips it can be wise to cover with fleece for the first week or so to ensure they survive as they establish themselves.

By our calculations*, you should look at planting out Lettuce about 10 days before your last frost date.

Harvesting whole head lettuce
Whole head lettuce should be harvested in the early morning, as they will be plump and full of water – which should help to retain their crispness. Try to cut the head about 3 cm from the soil level with a sharp knife, and a new head will sometimes develop. Try not to yank or pull the lettuce with your hands as it can disrupt nearby plants.

Harvesting loose leaf lettuce
As with whole head lettuce, early morning harvests are best for crispness as they have been in the cool night air for hours. Harvest only when the plant is large enough to be able to cope with a couple of leaves removed – this is normally when they are around 15cm / 6 inches in height, but depends on the variety. Try to pick only one or two leaves per plant to ensure that they keep producing leaves during the season. Use a sharp pair of scissors to cut each leaf, and try to take from the outside first.

These plants have been known to grow well alongside Lettuce so consider planting:

There are lots of plants you can use as good companion plants for lettuce – most should be twinned with lettuce to provide extra resistance against slugs and other pests, but some are also good for improving the flavour of the lettuce leaves.

• Lettuce loves Spearmint

  Mint helps to repel slugs.

• Lettuce loves Cucumber

  The prickly vines will help to deter slugs.

• Lettuce loves Bean

  Helps to provide shade for lettuce, also encourages beneficial insects to keep destructive pests away from the leaves.

• Lettuce loves Sage

  Sage helps to repel slugs away from lettuce.

• Lettuce loves Dill

  Dill provides shade and helps deter pests.

• Lettuce likes Chervil

  Good for improving lettuce flavour.

• Lettuce loves African Marigold

  Help deter pests like aphids, root maggots and slugs.

• Lettuce likes Anise hyssop

  Anise is helpful in increasing disease resistance.

• Lettuce likes Lovage

  Lovage is helpful in increasing Lettuce's disease resistance.

• Lettuce likes Borage

  Good for improving disease resistance.

• Lettuce likes Cleome

  Cleome planted around lettuce can help shade the leaves from the summer sun.

These plants will not grow well with Lettuce so avoid planting these within close proximity:

There are a number of plants that should not be grown near to lettuce, mainly due to their attractiveness to the same pests that attack lettuce.

• Lettuce hates Cabbage

  Don't plant cabbage near lettuce as it tends to attract the same pests.

• Lettuce hates Celery

  Celery encourages the same pests that commonly attack lettuce.

• Lettuce hates Flat leaf parsley

  Parsley tends to encourage the same pests that attack lettuce.

• Lettuce hates Curly leaf parsley

  Parsley tends to encourage the same pests that attack lettuce.

These problems, diseases and pests are known to affect Lettuce plants:

Snails and slugs

• Cucumber Mosaic Virus

  Cucumber Mosaic Virus (CMV) was first found in Cucumbers, hence its name - ho...

• Snails

• Slugs

  A snail without a shell. A mollusc with an elongated, soft body with a shiny...

The name Lettuce (and the genus Lactuca) come from the Latin for “milk” – referring to the plant’s milky juice.

Loose leaf lettuce, leaf lettuce, butterhead lettuce, bibb lettuce, iceberg lettuce, crisphead lettuce, crisp head lettuce

Lactuca sativa L.

Misspellings: Lettace, Lettice, Letice, Letace, Lactuga sativa

Our when to plant Lettuce estimates are relative to your last frost date. Enter your frost dates and we'll calculate your sowing and planting dates for you!